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Allen Weisselberg, the former CFO of the Trump Organization, was given a five-month jail sentence on Wednesday for lying under oath during the New York civil fraud trial that included the former president of the United States and other parties.
“The sentence, handed down by a state court judge in Manhattan, came just five days before Mr. Trump is to go on trial in the same courthouse on accusations that he covered up a sex scandal. Mr. Weisselberg was not charged in the same case as Mr. Trump, but he would not be headed to jail if not for his former boss’s own troubles: Prosecutors set their sights on Mr. Weisselberg after he refused to turn on Mr. Trump,” the New York Times reported.
“Last month, Mr. Weisselberg, 76, pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury committed while he was being questioned in 2020 by the New York attorney general’s office, which was investigating Mr. Trump for fraud,” the outlet added.
The entire sentencing process took about three minutes, which was a quicker and less dramatic affair than the one he had during his previous jail sentence in early 2023.
New York Attorney General Letitia James conducted a fraud investigation that resulted in the most recent charges against Weisselberg. In the end, she charged that to obtain better loan terms, Trump and a number of his associates, including Weisselberg, had inflated their financial statements.
BREAKING: Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg was sentenced Wednesday to five months in jail for lying under oath during his testimony in Trump’s civil fraud case and during the investigation that preceded it. https://t.co/VTLp6cdPw9
— ABC News (@ABC) April 10, 2024
The former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, Weisselberg, was fined $1 million for his role and was barred from holding financial leadership positions with any New York-based business.
The attorneys for Trump have criticized Weisselberg’s prosecution, citing his advanced age as justification. They contend that he is an innocent target of Trump’s extensive investigation.
Mr. Weisselberg may get a sentence reduction of roughly 100 days if he behaves well. He will most likely remain in jail for the duration of Mr. Trump’s criminal trial, which Mr. Bragg’s prosecutors are also in charge of. On Monday, jury selection will start in that trial.
Years ago, when the Manhattan district attorney’s office was intensifying its investigation into Trump, Weisselberg came under investigation for the first time. Having worked for the Trump family for almost fifty years and assisted in the management of the business following Trump’s election, he possesses extensive knowledge about the Trump Organization, which could prove to be a useful advantage for prosecutors.
However, Weisselberg declined to work with the prosecution, starting a pattern of loyalty to Trump at the price of his liberty.
He entered a guilty plea to tax fraud in 2022 and consented to testify against the Trump Organization in its trial on the same charges; however, he refrained from naming Trump specifically. After the company was found guilty of 17 counts of financial crime, Weisselberg was given a five-month sentence that he served for approximately 100 days at Rikers Island.
Prosecutors proceeded with Mr. Trump’s indictment without his cooperation. Prosecutors say the former president may have influenced the 2016 election, so they filed 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a sex encounter with a porn star.
Though prosecutors will present their case without Weisselberg’s assistance, Bragg’s office thought he was involved in the hush-money payment.
The remarks Weisselberg made in 2020 while discussing Trump’s triplex apartment in Trump Tower with attorneys at the New York attorney general’s office led to his most recent guilty plea.
In his plea, Weisselberg acknowledged lying about when he discovered that the triplex—which Trump’s financial documents had listed as 30,000 square feet—was actually 10,996 square feet. In addition, he acknowledged lying when asked if he had witnessed Mr. Trump inflating the square footage.
In addition, Weisselberg admitted lying in his testimony at trial, downplaying his role in the triplex’s valuation, and in a second deposition with the attorney general.
The attorney general’s office attorneys portrayed Mr. Weisselberg as a corporate man with a motive to lie during the trial.
Presenting Weisselberg with a severance agreement proving the company had paid him $2 million, they confronted the man who had begun working for the Trump family as Trump’s father’s bookkeeper. According to the agreement, he couldn’t assist with any law enforcement probe unless it was necessary.
Judge Engoron declared in his final written decision that Weisselberg’s testimony was “highly unreliable” due to the contract.
